Markham MOLTO RARO - LE NOUVEAU ET SCAVANT MARESCHAL - 1666

The “New and Learned Master of Horse” by Gervase Markham, published in Paris by Jean Ribou in 1666, in the French translation by sieur de Foubert.

[52] , 411 , [5]

Book in excellent condition, parchment cover with the title on the spine, emblems impressed on the plates and on the back.
Internal pages and illustrations perfect; book without defects to report.

It is the first edition of the French translation of Markham’s Master-piece, an English work first published in 1610. The issue with the imprint address of Jean Ribou is precisely documented.

It is a broad manual of ippipatria, i.e., horse medicine, covering:

* conformation, quality and defects of the animal;
* internal and external diseases, wounds, and treatments;
* anatomy, bones, nerves and veins;
* breeding and management of equine studs;
* medicines and their use;
* bits, shoeing and hoof care;
* merchants’ tricks to hide the defects of horses.

Gervase Markham, about 1568–1637, was an English writer who was particularly prolific, expert in horses and rural activities. He wrote about riding, agriculture, domestic management, military topics, poetry and theater. His work combined practical experience and transmitted knowledge, making it accessible to a broad audience. The Bibliothèque nationale de France confirms the attribution of your book to this author.

Foubert is the French translator: on the title page he presents himself as the king’s squire and one of the directors of the Académie royale at rue Sainte-Marguerite. Biographical information about him is less certain and more fragmentary.

In the photographs there are the illustrated title page, the plate of veins, the plate of the skeleton, the large folded plate of the bits and that of the surgical instruments. It is a significant collection to document seventeenth-century equestrian and veterinary practice; the École nationale vétérinaire d’Alfort includes this work in its display of old books dedicated to the horse.